TRAINING? TOO EXPENSIVE?
David Scott
Some recent research has pointed out the importance of good training that strengthens competencies in key employees. The research compared the results achieved by the best of the bunch with the average. For example, they found that the top 25% of sales people are worth in sales, fourteen times the value of the average sales person.
Other areas looked at showed the same pattern. The top 25% of software developers are worth five times as much as the average of the rest. Profits at paper plants run by really good managers are 4% higher than the average.
Now of course, it could be that the best are attracted to the best companies where their talents have the chance of achieving greater things, but it certainly seems to confirm what we have thought and argued for a long time - training is an investment that is often undervalued.
Bernard Shaw, the Nobel Prize winning Irish Playright, said when asked how he felt on his ninetieth birthday replied, “Quite good considering the alternative.” Training? Too expensive? Quite cheap, considering the alternative, ignorance.
Something to consider when next you plan your budget.